L0301P82 - Attitudes, Attribution, Health Behaviour
__TOC__ Attribution *humans are greatly occupied with seeking explanations for experience or behaviours *refers to the process of inferring the causes of mental states and behaviours of yourself and of others Types of Attribution External (Situational) *behaviour is due to the situational demands or environmental constraints *e.g.: “I had a heart attack because there is so much stress at work” Internal (Dispositional) *behaviour reflects the person’s personal traits or abilities *somewhat like taking responsibility *e.g.: “I had a heart attack because I smoked and ate too much fatty food” Stable vs Unstable *stable: I’ll never be able to exercise regularly *unstable: I’ve not been able to exercise lately as it has been too hot Global vs Specific *global: diabetes effects all aspects of my life *specific: diabetes prevents me from eating certain foods Controllable vs Uncontrollable *also known as locus of control **where a person thinks their control is in a particular situation **generally higher locus of control = better *controllable: I can control my diet *uncontrollable: no matter what I do, I can’t seem to control my diet Errors of Attribution Fundamental Attribution Error *tendency for the ‘observer’ to **underestimate impact of external factors **overestimate impact of internal factors *i.e. favour internal attributions to explain a person’s behaviour as an observer *for example: **he’s depressed because he’s lazy and can’t keep a job. He needs to pick up his game. **her illness returned because she never goes to appointments for treatment. Actor-Observer Bias *tendency for the ‘actor’ (person doing the behaviour) to favour external attributions for their own behaviour, especially if negative **i.e. not taking responsibility of own actions *e.g. I got sick because my boss works me too hard Self-Serving Bias A range of biases that protect or enhance self- evaluation: *self-enhancing bias **attributing one’s success to personal factors **e.g.: I did so well because I studied so hard for the exam *self protecting bias **attributing one’s failures to situational factors **e.g.: I didn’t do well because the lecturers did not teach us this *self-handicapping **publicly making advance external attributions for one’s anticipated failure or poor performance in a forthcoming event **e.g.: I don’t think I will do well in this exam Attitudes *a relatively enduring organisation of beliefs, feelings and behavioural tendencies towards people, objects or issues Major Components of Attitudes Cognition *beliefs, ideas or thoughts that people hold about a matter Affect *emotions stimulated by a subject matter Behavioural Intentions *predispositions to act in certain ways Example: Taking Medication *C: The disease needs treatment. The medication will make me feel better. *A: I worry about the disease. I don’t mind taking tablets. *B: more likely to adhere to the dose prescribed vs. *C: I’m concerned that I’m going to get side effects like my neighbour *A: I feel slightly nervous *B: less likely to take the tablets Dimensions of Attitudes Attitude towards a subject matter depends on: *strength: impact and durability *importance: personal appraisal of relevance *accessibility: ease of activation *complexity: general vs specific *implicit vs explicit **i.e. consciousness of the attitude **positive attitude = quicker response *ambivalence: positive vs negative emotions *coherence: internal consistency   Features of Attitudes *attitudes are relatively permanent **persist across time and situations **a transitory feeling is not an attitude *limited to socially significant events, objects *generalisable and involve at least some degree of abstraction **deals with ideas rather than events  Cognitive Dissonance *simultaneously opposing cognitions *discrepancy between attitudes or an attitude and a behaviour that results in a state of psychological tension *forces/motivates individuals to reduce tension by **changing thoughts **changing behaviour Example: *pre-dissonance **C: I like ham and salami – it tastes good! **A: I want to treat myself and enjoy food **B: Eats ham and salami pizza *dissonance introduced **C: I like ham and salami but too much meat is associated with bowel cancer **A: worry about cancer vs. enjoying life **B: reduce intake of ham and salami pizza Attitude and Behaviours *relationship between attitude and behaviour is not straightforward *certain conditions will promote or disrupt the prediction of attitudes on behaviour **motivations **intention to perform the behaviour **strength of the attitude **moderating variables ***situation, personality Moderating Variables Situational Variables *attitudes express themselves as behaviour if they are normative properties of a social group with which people identify *e.g.: women 50-69 years old do mammogram screening Personality Variables *personality - how a person interacts with the world and people around them *people who are consistent on certain personality traits are more likely to behave in ways consistent with that personality trait *e.g.: extroverts are more outgoing Predicting Behaviours Attitudes can predict behaviours when: *attitude and behaviour are highly specific *norms - appraisal from the environment is reinforcing *significant others share the same attitude attitudes: **are implicit (unconscious) **are strong **has developed from personal experience   Attitude Formation *attitudes are learnt *process of forming an attitude, which is determined by: **our own experiences ***direct experience **influences of others ***positive reinforcement ***observation learning **our emotional reactions ***inferences from one’s behaviour Example: Attitude of a 58 year old woman on breast cancer screening Changing Attitudes - Persuasive Communication Persuasion *is the attempt to change an attitude held by another *highly relevant to health professionals in clinical setting *e.g.: doctors persuade patients to stop smoking following heart attack *persuasion has three components: **source **message **audience   Source *person who sends the message or communication *characteristics required for effectiveness: **credibility **expertise **trustworthiness - objective and reliable **attractiveness - not necessarily physical **similarity - particularly age **likability Message *message components: **“what” – key messages **“so what” – benefits of change, need for change **“now what” – define desirable ac.ons *styles: **one- vs two-sided arguments ***outweigh with challenges with benefits **repetition **type of appeal - loss or gain based **based on fact vs feeling Audience & Other factors *audience **person to whom the message is sent **gender, age, attention **prior beliefs ***disconfirmation bias - tendency to notice, refute and regard as weak, arguments that contradict prior beliefs *channels of delivery **online, face-to-face *context **right time, right place Role of Fear in Persuasion *motivates action *e.g.: **lifestyle change, health behaviour **attending screening *greater attention to threat communications *increased processing of concrete images and reduced processing of verbal information into threat representation *must be wary that too much fear will not persuade change in action Fear and Worry Alters processing of information *greater attention to threat communications **more effort to search for information on websites, read pamphlets, etc. **more detailed threat representations *greater beliefs in potential treatments or protective behaviours Provides Information *affect heuristic *individuals judge their disease risk and personal control over disease prevention based on their feelings of threat Motivates Action *can sustain motivation over time and promotes vigilance in action **association with future behaviours ***e.g., regular screenings **lifestyle behaviours ***e.g., diet, physical activity Persuasive Messages *arouse some degree of fear, but not too much *increase sense of severity if no change is made *emphasise efficacy, ability to change  Elaboration-Likelihood Model *two channels by which attitudes can be altered and people be persuaded Central Route *when message is carefully attended to *involves explicit communication and high elaboration (thinking about the message) *good for motivated audience who is able to think about the argument *leads to enduring change Peripheral Route *when message is not fully attended to *involves non-message factors (e.g. attraction, emotion etc.) and low elaboration *appeals to the emotions of the audience *classical conditioning **linking message with emotional response *lead to temporary attitude change Clinical Applications *understanding patient attributions **e.g.: I’ve increased my exercise and my blood pressure has gone down, I can stop my medications  *understanding the attribution for diseases or behavioural characteristics **e.g.: my family history says I will develop diabetes, there is nothing I can do *use of persuasive messages to prompt adoption of healthy behaviours **e.g.: attend screening, improve diet, reduce risky behaviour